Zooey's Good Life

Writer/director Steve
Berra has put together a cast sprinkled with recognizable names for his first feature, a "coming-of-age
drama" called The Good Life. The film (which sounds for all the world like a period piece, but as far as
I can tell actually takes place in the present day) is set in a small, football-obsessed town where the high school
coach (Bruce
McGill) is a god, and ex-players (Chris Klein, in particular) can
be assholes and get away with it because they were once heroes. At the center of the story are a kid who doesn't quite
fit in (Mark
Webber), and a good-hearted girl (you knew one of those would be coming soon, didn't you?) who "encourages him
to pursue his own path." And, since the girl is played by Zooey
Deschanel, it's probably a safe bet that he does what she says. Also in the cast are Harry
Dean Stanton and Bill Paxton whose character, apropos of nothing,
is described as "A Judy Garland fan." Ha! Haaaa! Assuming that's a euphemism for "gay," I love it.
And if it's not, I love it even more.

Production on Berra's film is already underway in Winnipeg, which was
clearly cheaper than Nebraska, where the story takes place. Mmm ... Canadian dollars.